DLA Piper chief Sir Nigel Knowles joins Zeus Capital

Currently global co-CEO and managing partner of DLA Piper, over the last 18 years Sir Nigel Knowles has led its growth from a regional law firm to a global business with a turnover in excess of £1 billion

Sir Nigel Knowles, the businessman who built DLA Piper into the global legal powerhouse it is today, has joined investment banking firm Zeus Capital as chairman.

Currently global co-CEO and managing partner of DLA Piper, over the last 18 years Sir Nigel has led its growth from a regional law firm to a global business with a turnover in excess of £1 billion staffed by more 4,200 lawyers in 30 countries.

His leadership at the law firm also saw the largest transatlantic legal sector merger in recent history, when DLA joined forces with US firms Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich in 2005.

Zeus Capital, which has offices in London, Manchester and Birmingham, has raised over £950 million on public markets for corporate clients in the last 15 months.

Dealogic, the international financial software company based in New York, ranked Zeus Capital as the leading IPO fundraiser for AIM companies in the UK for the first half of this year, while Thomson Reuters ranked it among the top 20 globally.

John Goold, joint chief executive at Zeus Capital, said: “The expertise that Sir Nigel brings will be a huge benefit to Zeus Capital.

“He has been behind some of the largest deals in the last two decades and has huge experience of growing a business.

“The team at Zeus are really excited about working with him.”

Sir Nigel said: “Having led the recent series of IPOs with the likes of Conviviality, Boohoo and DX Group, it is an exciting time to be joining Zeus Capital.

“Its pipeline of deals is just as impressive and I look forward to adding to the considerable expertise Zeus Capital already has at its disposal.”